I think it was fifteen years ago that I first tasted Rias Baixas Albariño and I am as taken with the wine today as I was fifteen years ago. Most folks are familiar with the Martin Codax Burgans, or the Paso Señorans bottling – both perennial favorites around our house. So how does one improve on such a simple little quaffer? Drop the price by a few bucks and amp up all the wonderful attributes of Albariño: beautiful, perfumed nose, refreshing palate with a crisp clean finish.

Such is the Valiñas from Ramón Bilbao, a stunning little wine from the northwest of Spain that, after a healthy discount is just a hair over $10! If you are looking for the perfect summer wine, look no further!

My tasting note:

Lively, fresh nose with tropical fruit and floral hints – lovely, perfumed scent. Light-bodied with firm acidity – well balanced. Racy with citrus and tropical fruit notes and a touch of mineral and chalk. Short, clean finish – smooth, clean and refreshing. Not for aging, although with the screw cap, the wine should hold up well. Great value!

Cheers!

I tend not to follow wine fads… They burn out relatively quickly and frankly do more harm than good. A current fad that seems to be running its course is Argentine Malbec… but first a bit about Argentina…

Argentina is considered the most important Latin American wine producing country, with the largest amount of land under vine (209,000 Hectares, or 504,000 Acres) and the largest per capita consumption rate for wine (40.99 Liters, or 10.8 Gallons).

Annual wine production had been as high as 27 Million Hectoliters or 713 Million Gallons in 1973, but has since fallen to 12.5 Million Hectoliters or 331 Million Gallons in 2000, ranking Argentina as the 5^th most productive wine region in the world.

Argentina has a wide range of climates, mostly temperate due to the broad extent and varying elevations of the vineyards. Water is plentiful, land is cheap and there is a potential market of 35 Million residents who are of European heritage with an in-grained culture of wine drinking. So, why isn’t Argentina’s wine industry stronger? Simply put a lack of economic stability. With rampant inflation, the devaluation of the Peso and the recent change (1991) to an open market government, the wine industry has largely focused on producing large volumes of mediocre table wines.

This is slowly changing, which is evident from the increase in foreign investment and the increased availability of finer, Argentine wines.

Some History

The history of the Argentine wine industry begins with its colonization by the Spanish:

• 1536 – Buenos Aires is founded by Pedro de Mendoza, but native Indians drive the Spaniards out.
• 1553 – Santiago is founded by Spanish settlers arriving from Peru and Bolivia and the settlement begins to thrive.
• 1561 – Mendoza is founded by Spanish settlers arriving from Chile.

In each case, missionaries accompanied the settlers, bringing God and the vine to Argentina. These initial plantings were likely the Criolla grape, which made only mediocre sacramental wines. Over time, plantings grew to include the more familiar European varieties.

The evolution of the Argentine wine industry was largely due to three factors:

• Ever-growing immigrant population accustomed to drinking wine (Europeans).
• Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentine President (1868-74), responsible to establishing wine schools throughout Argentina, including noted French and Italian wine experts.
• The Pacifíco Railway (1885) that connected Mendoza with Buenos Aires, which opened the country to trade.

The wine industry continued to grow throughout the 20^th Century, peaking in 1976, largely due to exportation of cheap wine to Chile. It was at this time that Argentina was recognized as a country with “great wine-making potential” in the press. This led to Argentine wine makers actively and aggressively pursuing the export markets of Britain and America. The strategy met with success and exports shifted from cheaper, table wines intended for Chile, to finer wines destined for Europe and America. Production ramped-up to meet demand and it appeared as if Argentina was transforming into a true fine wine producer.

However, all of this success was destroyed by the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. Overnight, the lucrative export markets outside of Latin America were gone and the wine being produced was too expensive for the cheap, Chilean market, which resulted in vast overproduction that led the industry to crash.

Upon cessation of hostilities Argentina set about rebuilding their wine industry. Over the following ten years the wine industry began to revive, fueled in large part to the regime change in Buenos Aires (1991). In the last ten years, the availability of hard currency, more foreign investment and the re-establishment of an export market for fine wines have allowed Argentina to build a strong, fine wine industry with even greater growth potential in the future.

Regions

The Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (I.N.V) is responsible for organizing and administering the regions and wine laws of Argentina. The INV has established four basic regions in Argentina:

• North-West
• Centre-West
• South
• Other

The INV has also established an appellation system, like those of Europe, called the Denominación de Origen Controlada of DOC. The first appearance of the DOC on an Argentine wine label was 1992 (San Rafael). There are two regions officially recognized as DOC regions: San Raphael and Luján de Cuyo. Most old time producers do not believe in the DOC system, largely due to years of governmental distrust. More modern producers do not believe in the DOC system because they do not want to be “handcuffed” to antiquated rules like their European counterparts. The fact that the DOC is largely overlooked by the wine makers means that most labels are without any kind of DOC specified and the likelihood of more classifications is doubtful.

Despite the lack of a generally-accepted DOC system, there are many regions that are noted for fine wine production.

 

North-West
Salta Province
Production		Acreage/Elevation			White Wine			Red Wine
1%		1,500ha/2,000m			80% – Torrontes			20% – Cabernet
Cantamarca Province
1%		400ha/2.000m						100% – Pinot Noir
LaRioja Province
5%		5,300ha/935m			80% – Torrontes			20% – Cabernet
Centre-West (Cuyo)
San Juan Province
31%		21,000ha/630m			85% -Muscat			15% – Bonarda
Mendoza (Overall)
61%		72,000ha/1,300m
North Mendoza
Las Heras					Lavalle
El Borbollón					Los Coralitos
El Plumerillo					Costa de Araujo
					Nueva California
Upper Mendoza River
Godoy Cruz		Guaymallén			Luján de Cuyo			Maipú
					Agrélo			Coquimbito
					Carrodilla			Russell
					Drummond			Cruz de Piedra
					Las Compuertas			Lunlunta
					Perdriel			Las Barrancas
					Portrerillas
					Ugarteche
					Vistalba
East Mendoza
San Martin	Junín			Rivadavia		Santa Rosa			La Paz
	Medrano			Palmira		Las Catitas			AltoSalvador
	Las Chimbas
Uco Valley
Tupungato			Tunuyán				San Carlos
La Arboleda			Villa Seca				El Cepillo
Aguas Amargas			VistaFlores				Chilecito
			Las Rosas
			Los Sauces
South Mendoza
San Rafael					General Alvear
Las Paredes					Carmensa
Cuadro Benegas
El Cerrito
La Llave
Goudge
Rama Caida
Cañada Seca
Las Malvinas
Jaime Prats
Villa Atuel
South
Patagonia –Rio Negro Province
1%		5,400ha/300m			10% – Sauvignon			90% – Malbec

 Today, the craze is all about Malbec from Argentina – below are two from the same winery, AVE that I found noteworthy.

My tasting notes for the wines:

2009 AVE Malbec, Mendoza – $13.99 per bottle

Dark fruit nose with black cherry, menthol, briarwood and cedar hints. Full-bodied with moderate acidity and firm, well-integrated tannin – good balance. Black fruit core with herbaceous and cherry notes. Moderate length, smooth with dried fruit and vanilla on the aftertaste. Drinking well now and should hold for another 2 to 3 years in bottle. Good value!

 

2008 AVE Malbec Gran Reserva, Mendoza – $22.99 per bottle

Intense, rich nose with black cherry, anise menthol and cedar hints. Full-bodied with moderate acidity and firm, dry tannin – well balanced. Black cherry on the palate with vanilla, cedar and tar notes. Long finish, smooth with a nice allspice and dried fruit aftertaste. Drinking well and should benefit from another 5 to 7 years in the bottle.

Cheers!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted… We’ve been tasting a lot, just bogged down with a whole host of other stuff… Well, we’re back, so here goes…

Spain is one of my favorite wine producing countries – great diversity of style and flavor, very high quality standards and fantastic values abound! For the last 20 years I have sung the song of praise for Spain and many of my friends have appreciated that.

I recently picked-up two wonderful little wines from arguably the most well-known region in Spain – Rioja. Located in the Ebro valley in northern Spain, the region is divided into three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa, each with its own terrior that lends diversity of character to the blend. Rioja is one of the oldest wine making regions in Spain, officially recognized by the King of Navarre in 1102 AD.

The region is known primarily for its red wines, which make up approximately 85% of production and are largely produced from the Tempranillo grape. Other red grapes can be found in the blend, such as Graciano and Mazuelo. Rosado wines are also produced, as well as whites, the latter being a product of the Viura grape, known elsewhere in Spain as Macabeo. The style of classic, or traditional Rioja is very distinctive, often times possessing a rustic, yet elegant flavor profile, tinged with vanilla and cedar notes. The vanilla and cedar notes come from the American oak cooperage winemakers use in the aging process of the wine.

Rioja is one of two regions that holds the highest honor in the Spanish wine hierarchy – Denominación de Origen Calificada, the other being Priorato. Within this hierarchy, Rioja is categorized as thus:

 The first wine is a Rioja Blanco from a very well-known, high-quality producer – Bodegas Muga. The Muga wine is barrel fermented and aged in oak to produce a smooth, creamy wine with elegant structure, but the application of wood is light-handed so the lively fruit persists on the palate. According to their web site: “Bodegas Muga is located in the historical Barrio de La Estación (railway station district) in Haro. The facilities (270,000 square foot) are two centuries old, built mainly of stone and oak. In fact, oak is paramount in the winery. There are 200 oak deposits as well as 14,000 barrels, made out of different types of oak ranging from French oak (Allier, Tronçais or Jupilles), American, Hungarian, Russian and even the small consignment of Spanish oak.”

The second wine is a Rioja Crianza from Rio Madre with the distinction of being made from 100% Graciano grapes. The wine is powerful with great structure and wonderful complexity. Rio Madre is a relatively young winery located in the Rioja Baja and growing Graciano on 60+ year-old vines. Jorge Ordonez, the world renowned wine maker is a consultant to the operation, which could account for the unbelievable intensity of the wine.

My tasting notes for the wines:

2009 Bodegas Muga Rioja Blanco Barrel Fermented – $11.99 per bottle

Lively, creamy nose with vanilla, apple and tropical hints – very pretty. Medium-bodied with firm acidity – refreshing and crisp – good balance. Tart apple and lemon palate with oak and caramel notes. Moderate length – smooth with a pretty honeyed aftertaste. Drinking well – not for aging. Great value!

 

2010 Rio Madre Rioja – $11.99 per bottle

Earthy nose with deep plum, lavender and briarwood hints. Full-bodied with firm acidity and firm, dry tannin – good balance. Dense, chewy palate with blackberry jam and stewed  fruit notes – Wow! Long finish with a smooth but tight aftertaste. Some spice, cedar and vanilla – very nice. Drinking well and should benefit from another 5 to 7 years in the bottle. Great value!

Cheers!